Nicolas Pepe will not be at Lille next season, Christophe Galtier has confirmed.
And this is great news for Arsenal and Unai Emery amid their search for a winger ahead of the new season.
football.london understands that the Gunners have a long-standing interest in the Ivory Coast winger that while spearheaded by now former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat has not entirely dimmed since the German's departure.
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However, the 23-year-old's superb form for Lille this season has alerted the likes of Bayern Munich as well as Barcelona, while Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have also been linked in recent weeks.
Last month, Pepe's representative, Samir Khiat, has revealed that discussions have taken place with clubs over a summer transfer and even name checked the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions.
Now, the winger's manager has conceded an exit is on the cards.
"Nicolas Pepe will leave. Life's like that, football's like that today," Galtier told Canal+ ."He is a player of the highest level who will have a big decision to make on the choice of his next club.
"There will be a battle between the great European teams.
"I hope that he will take good amount of time to think about it, do his research, like he did when he came here and when he decided to stay here (last summer), find the right project."
Pepe is unlikely to come cheap, as Lopez told RMC - as per ESPN - in March that the winger is now worth between "€50m and €80m" and it is unlikely the north London outfit would be able to sign him unless they qualify for the Champions League.
The forward netted 22 times in Ligue 1 and has weighed in with 11 assists in 37 appearances so far which means he's keeping company with PSG trio Kylian Mbappe, Edinson Cavani and Neymar in terms of goal involvement.
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